Road mishap victim's parents get Rs 23.5 lakh compensation

The parents of a 29-year-old youth, who died in a road accident involving a rashly driven car, have been awarded a compensation of over Rs 23.5 lakh by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here.

The tribunal directed National Insurance Company Ltd, with which the offending car was insured, to pay Rs 23,55,000 to the parents of victim Vikas Rawat who died in the accident in March last year.

"It is settled law that the term rashness and negligence has to be constructed lightly while making a decision on a petition for claim for the same as compared to the word rashness and negligence as finds mention in the IPC. This is because the chapter in the Motor Vehicle Act dealing with compensation is a benevolent legislation and not a penal one.

"In view of the above discussion, petitioners are able to prove that deceased Vikas Rawat suffered fatal injuries and Neeraj and Vipin suffered injuries due to rash and negligent driving of the car driver," MACT Presiding Officer Ajay Kumar Jain said.

Rawat's parents had told the tribunal that the accident took place on the night of March 3, 2013 when Vikas, Vipin and Neeraj were going towards their house on a motorcycle.

When they reached in front of Panchsheel Enclave, the offending Innova car driven in a rash and negligent manner by Manoj Kumar overtook several other cars from the wrong side and hit the motorcycle.

Due to the impact, the three men fell down. While Neeraj and Vipin received injuries, Vikas died in a hospital the next day due to the injuries suffered.

Vikas' parents said he was unmarried and was working as a supervisor in a firm and was earning Rs 15,000 per month.

The car driver, in his statement, claimed that his vehicle was not involved in the accident. The insurance company said that the accident was caused due to contributory negligence of the injured persons as it was a case of triple riding.